Flourishing Among the Feathers

When you think of "tweets" these days, you may think of 140 characters or less. Not Austin Williams-Ayers. He thinks 150 species and more...

Sophomore Austin Williams-Ayers spent his past two summers working a part-time job at the National Aviary through the National Aviary Teen Volunteer program. The National Aviary, located on Pittsburgh's North Side, is America’s only independent indoor nonprofit zoo dedicated exclusively to birds. The National Aviary’s diverse collection comprises more than 500 birds representing more than 150 species from around the world – many of them threatened or endangered in the wild.

Austin has had numerous job responsibilities from guiding visitors through the facility to cleaning feeding dishes.

"I have assisted with the interactive shows and feedings, but my primary experience was assisting with the National Aviary Summer Camps," Austin said. 

Throughout the week-long summer camps, Austin assisted the camp director with the Aviary education and conservation programs. Monitoring campers' encounters with birds such as penguins, flamingos, raptors and toucans, Austin showed and explained what is required of those who wish to be a falconer or veterinarian.

"I learned a lot about the care and conservation of the birds and their habitat," he said. "I have also learned to have a lot of patience with young kids at camp.”

Austin’s best memories of his time at the Aviary include working behind the scenes and learning what it takes to care for the birds. Another highlight for him was painting with the penguins.

"This is a great opportunity to get work experience in a non-traditional environment – meaning not having to sit at a desk all day,” he explained. “I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in birds or wants to do something different during the summer."

Under the Sea

Senior Gabrielle Palluch researched marine biology at Australia's Great Barrier Reef this summer. Program participants joined marine biologists for a 10-hour excursion to study the life forms that make up the reef's ecosystem.

A specially outfitted vessel ferried the group to the reef. While traveling to the reef, participants were able to question the experts and discuss the latest migration patterns of certain sea creatures, as well as the increase or decrease of specific sea life.

"One of my favorite parts of the whole trip was definitely sitting down and personally talking to the marine biologists. They were really insightful and had all this information about different types of fish and other creatures that I didn't even know existed,” explained Gabrielle. “It was really interesting to know that they did this as a job and got to encounter so many beautiful animals each day.”

Once at the reef participants used scuba or snorkeling equipment to dive into the Saxton Reef where they attempted to memorize different coral, plant, fish, and other sea life they observed, while estimating the quantity of said life forms. The group also studied the coral and observed its behavior to determine the overall health of the reef.

"Another part of the trip that I thought was amazing was being able to scuba dive," Gabrielle said. "I had never done it before so it was really cool that my first time was in the Great Barrier Reef.”

It was a whole other world down there, all the fish would swim right next to us as if we weren't even there,” Gabrielle continued. We got close enough we could glide our fingers across them as they swam by. One group went down and saw a white tip reef shark, which I thought was amazing."

Through review of their individual observations, the group determined that there were several issues such as a slight increase of coral bleaching, and low numbers for certain fish. Neither discovery proved to be cause for alarm, but the information informed biologists that future observation would be required.

Another issue the group discovered was more alarming.

"One of the things that I was shocked to learn was that people who ride out to the reef tend to litter," Gabrielle said. "We were told that the litter has caused many deaths to certain creatures out on the reef.”

 Sea turtles, who often eat jellyfish, discover plastic bags that were left behind and eat them. Their bodies are unable to digest plastic, which leads to the deaths of many turtles.

“We were told that there are special expeditions designed to go out into the reef and clean up trash,” explained Gabrielle. “Removing the trash has increased marine life by 15% in the past 6 years.”

Gabrielle encourages anyone who loves the ocean and aquatic life to experience a trip such as hers.

"It's so much fun and you forget that by doing this you’re helping not just the community of people, but the sea community. It really is a great, once in a life time experience and I highly recommending it!"

The Great Race

The Chartiers Valley High School boys basketball team hit the streets of Pittsburgh for the Great Race on September 28, 2014. This was the team’s 22nd straight year running the race.  

This year, the team had 23 runners, including players, coaches and the team’s book keeper.  Everybody participated in the 10K race.

“The purpose of running the Great Race is conditioning and team building,” said Coach McConnell. “It is also to show the players that they can accomplish something they weren’t sure they could do.”

Sophomore Nick Jessloski came in first place in his division (ages 14-16) and placed 52nd overall out of more than 10,000 runners in the 10K.

Senior Matty McConnell even participated, despite his injury. Matty was still recovering from a broken ankle at the time of the race and was not permitted to run. However, he walked the entire course and still finished as part of the team!

Congratulations to the team for keeping this tradition alive!

The basketball team at the Great Race.

CV sophomore, Nick Jessloski, placed 1st in his division.

For the Love of the Lab

Junior Stephen Lau attended Project SEED – an eight week summer program at Duquesne University.

Project SEED was established in 1968 to help high school students expand their education and career outlook. The program provides opportunities for students to spend a summer conducting hands-on research with a scientist in academic, industry, and government research laboratories. Students receive a fellowship award for their efforts and a chance to receive a SEED college scholarship.

The Pittsburgh Section of the American Chemical Society sponsors several students each summer at Duquesne University, under the direction of Dr. Jennifer Aitken.  Stephen was one of those students! As a result, he had the opportunity to conduct research alongside undergraduate students in the Madura Lab at Duquesne University.

The focus of Stephen’s research was the abstract idea that the binding free energy between a protein and a small molecule is an important quantity in the drug discovery process.

Stephen learned many scientific terms and processes throughout the program. Since he was working with computational science, he also learned how to use different computer programs. At the conclusion of the program, Stephen created a poster for the Undergraduate Research Program Symposium that highlighted his research topic.

“One of my favorable moments I had at Duquesne was during the symposium,” said Stephen. “It was a wonderful time for everyone I met, including myself, to enjoy the progress they made this summer. It was a time where we showed people what we did, learned, and achieved with our research.”

Although the symposium was a great day for Stephen and the other researchers to share their hard work with others, it also signaled the end of the program.

“It was sad to know that it was the last day for the undergraduates,” said Stephen. “I personally don't like saying goodbyes because you know that there's a slim chance of seeing them again. I am going to miss everyone, especially the undergraduates in my lab group.”

“I became good friends with everyone in the Madura Lab and didn't feel like an outsider at all,” Stephen continued. “They always helped me out in any way possible, even if it was simple problem like using an iMac.”

Stephen also had the opportunity to present his research findings to the other participants and Bayer employees at the Celebrating Project SEED event at Bayer.

Stephen would recommend this program to others because it gives students the opportunity to work with real scientists at a college level. The Project SEED students worked on the exact same work as the undergraduate students. According to Stephen, the experience is worth it – especially if students have an interest in a career in a science field.

Summer workshop takes junior to Ivy League

Junior Nicholas May attended the two week Design It! Build It! Summer Engineering Workshop at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire this summer. In addition to attending a variety of presentations by Dartmouth graduate students, alumni, and professors that shared his interest in engineering, Nick experienced living on the Dartmouth Campus with other students in the program.

"They gave an overview of engineering programs at Dartmouth, and allowed us to work on individual projects with their help and guidance," Nick said. "I learned about the standards that most Ivy League Colleges expect from their students, and what kind of advanced curriculum they offer to students who are able to earn admission into their programs."

Nick also had the opportunity to see some of the cutting-edge projects currently underway at their top-ranked engineering school. His favorite moment from this experience was having the opportunity to meet with engineer Tim Eliassen, who is an expert in using glass as a structural material.

"Hearing about [Tim Eliassen's] experiences working on famous projects such as the The Louvre in Paris and the Apple store in New York City was really interesting," said Nick.

According to Nick, any student who is interested in engineering -- regardless of discipline -- should take the opportunity to attend this program.

Learning Today, Leading Tomorrow

Sydney Morgan (left) and her roommate.

While many students took the opportunity to relax during their summer break, rising senior Sydney Morgan was staying busier than ever! Sydney represented Chartiers Valley at the 2013-2014 Keystone Girls State Program at Shippensburg University in June.

Keystone Girls State is a week long program that gives young women the chance to learn about the duties, rights and responsibilities of citizenship. The program emphasizes leadership development and governmental instruction for high school girls across Pennsylvania.

After an application and interview process, Sydney secured a sponsorship with the American Legion Auxiliary Unit in Carnegie, funding her opportunity to participate in the Keystone Girls State program.

“We experienced many great things throughout the week.” Sydney recalls. “I received the opportunity to run for mock government positions in our mock state and hold mock legislatures.”

Sydney says she also learned a lot about government at the state level. The program participants took a trip to Harrisburg and met with state representatives from Pennsylvania.

“[I learned] what it is like for a women to hold her own in politics today.” says Sydney. [I also learned] that it is [possible] for anyone –no matter what gender or race– to be involved in government. You just have to be willing to work hard and persevere, no matter what anyone else says.”

“I also thoroughly enjoyed meeting other girls from Pennsylvania who shared the same interests as me, some of whom I believe will be lifelong friends.”

Sydney's photo of the state capitol.

Sydney believes participating in Keystone Girls State was an incredible learning opportunity. “You make so many memories with everyone there and you also have a large amount of networking opportunities with the speakers who come.”

After her experience with Keystone Girls State, Sydney advises other student to pursue similar opportunities. ”If anyone would like to experience this life changing week, it would be foolish not to take [advantage of] it.”

Have any questions for Sydney or want to learn more about her experience? Contact Megan Colt, Collegiate Coordinator, at mcolt@cvsd.net. Ms. Colt will put students in touch.